Before handing tens of thousands of euros to a construction company, it makes sense to spend 30 minutes checking if the company is trustworthy. The problem is that most people do not know where to start: there are many sources, many public portals, and the information is scattered everywhere. This guide walks you step by step through all the free public databases you can use to verify any construction company in Portugal.
Every case is different, always consult a lawyer for specific situations. But these checks are the minimum that any property owner should do before signing a contract.
Step 1: NIF.pt - Confirm the company exists and is active
The first step is the most basic, but many people skip it: confirming that the company officially exists. Go to NIF.pt and enter the company's NIF (tax identification number).
Here you will find:
- Legal name - the company's official name (which may differ from the trading name)
- Status - whether it is active, dissolved, or in liquidation
- Incorporation date - when it was founded. Companies less than 2 years old deserve extra scrutiny, especially if they promise large projects
- Share capital - the capital it was incorporated with. This is contextual information, not a direct risk indicator (share capital can be spent immediately and doesn't guarantee solvency), but it can be useful background on the company's original structure
- CAE (Economic Activity Code) - confirm that the CAE corresponds to construction. Codes 41, 42, and 43 are the most common in the sector
If the company does not appear on NIF.pt, it does not legally exist. If it shows as "ceased" or "dissolved," obviously do not hire them.
Step 2: IMPIC - Check the construction license
IMPIC (Institute for Public Markets, Real Estate and Construction) maintains the registry of all companies authorized to carry out construction work in Portugal. Access the public consultation on the IMPIC website and search by the company's tax number.
What to check:
- License status - active, suspended, expired, or revoked
- License type - alvará (general contractor) or certificado (subcontractor)
- Qualification class - defines the maximum project value the company can legally take on. Classes range from Certificate (subcontractor) to Class 9 (large-scale works). The specific value limits per class are set by government regulation and updated periodically - check the current limits directly on the IMPIC website
- Categories - type of work authorized (buildings, infrastructure, electrical installations, etc.)
There are two types of authorization: for private works and for public works. For residential projects, confirm that the company is authorized for private works in the appropriate category.
A company without an active IMPIC license cannot legally carry out construction work in Portugal. This is not optional.
Step 3: CITIUS - Search for court proceedings
CITIUS is the Portuguese courts' information system. In the public consultation section, you can search for court proceedings associated with any company using the tax number or company name.
What to look for (and what the State hides):
- Insolvencies (CIRE proceedings) - whether the company is or has been in insolvency proceedings. A declared insolvency is the most serious red flag there is: it means the court has confirmed the company cannot pay its debts
- PER (Special Revitalization Process) - the company is trying to restructure to avoid insolvency. Not as serious as a declared insolvency, but indicates serious financial difficulties
- Public executions - enforcement proceedings
But there is a serious limitation the Ministry of Justice has never resolved: the public portal cannot search for common civil actions against companies. If the construction company is being sued by 5 clients for abandonment of work, you will not find that on the public portal. This is why professional tools like ObraXRAY have become indispensable — they monitor all 197 county courts in the country daily to detect civil actions that the State hides from citizens.
Note: on CITIUS, the company may appear as plaintiff (the one bringing the case) or as defendant (the one being sued). A company that appears as a creditor in someone else's insolvency is neutral, it is owed money. What matters is when the company is the debtor or defendant.
Step 4: Ministry of Justice Publications - Check directors
On the publicacoes.mj.pt portal, you can consult official publications related to companies: director appointments and departures, capital changes, headquarters changes, and other corporate acts.
Why this matters: if the company's directors have a history of insolvencies in other companies, that is a very strong warning sign. The "company carousel" pattern, where the same individual opens and closes companies successively, is one of the most common frauds in the construction sector.
Note the directors' names and then search each one individually on CITIUS. If a director has 3 insolvent companies on their track record, the probability of the fourth being different is very low.
Step 5: Tax authority debtor list
The Tax Authority (Autoridade Tributária) periodically publishes a list of taxpayers with tax debts above certain thresholds. The amounts appear in brackets, so you do not know the exact amount, but you know the company has significant tax debts.
A company with tax debts may be trying to stay afloat by diverting money that should go to taxes to cover other holes. It is a sign of financial difficulties that often precedes insolvency.
Step 6: Social Security debtor list
Social Security (Segurança Social) also publishes a list of entities with overdue contributions. This is often the first visible sign that a company is in trouble: when money starts running short, employee social security contributions are usually among the first things left unpaid.
If a construction company appears on the Social Security debtor list, it means it is not paying its workers' contributions. Beyond the ethical question, it is an early indicator of possible financial collapse.
Step 7: Portal BASE - Public contracts
Portal BASE is Portugal's public contracts platform. If the company has executed and completed public contracts, that is a positive sign: it means it passed through more demanding verification processes and fulfilled its contractual obligations to public entities.
It is not an absolute guarantee of quality, but companies with a track record of completed public contracts tend to be more reliable than those operating exclusively in the private market, where oversight is much lower.
Honest limitations of each source
It is important to be transparent about what these checks do not catch:
- NIF.pt - shows the company exists but says nothing about work quality
- IMPIC - verifies the legal authorization but does not guarantee technical competence
- CITIUS - only shows court proceedings, not informal complaints or grievances that never made it to court
- MJ Publications - may not have complete information on directors of very old companies
- Debtor lists - updated periodically, may lag behind the actual situation
- Portal BASE - only covers public contracts, says nothing about private work
No single source tells the whole story. The real power lies in cross-referencing all of them.
Or do it all at once with ObraXRAY
If you have read this far, you probably realize that doing all these checks manually is possible but takes time and requires some patience to navigate unintuitive portals.
ObraXRAY does exactly this, but automatically. Just enter the company's tax number and in minutes you receive a complete report that crosses 9 official databases and runs more than 20 automated checks. The system goes beyond the public portal: it analyses all 197 county courts daily to detect civil actions against the company — something no manual CITIUS search can reveal.
Instead of spending hours jumping between portals, you do one search and get an analysis of the key public records. No technical knowledge needed, no complications.
Check a construction company now on ObraXRAY